Thorsten Arnhold explores the difficulties  of safety dealing with hazardous and potentially explosive materials.

If you are a machine or plant engineer in the energy industry, where oil, gas, coal, or even new fuels such as hydrogen are involved, there is no getting around a simple fact – you are dealing with hazardous materials.

Everyone is aware, of course, that explosion protection measures are a must in almost all applications in the energy sector, since major portions of plants in the industry – from production, to tank farm, to processing facilities – are eg Ex-zone1 or 21 areas.
It is no small feat to get a grip on the wide range of intrinsically safe equipment you have to source from manufacturers of ex-proof devices.

And even once you have got your shopping list, it takes more to get things done than finding suppliers, or preferably just one for all your needs (or at least the better part of them). Naturally, someone will have to put it all together, eg fit control stations and terminal boxes with components, and ensure proper functionality for all these installations.

Fortunately there is someone who can do that cheaper and better than you: To take that load off your shoulder, your first choice should be a specialist who not only manufactures the Ex-proof components you need, but also provides the services you can’t do without.

You will want your partner to give you a comprehensive, integrated solution for your Ex area automation needs, which involves supplying as many pre-configured systems and bundled components as possible. 

While this trend is clearly on the rise, surprisingly few manufacturers of ex-proof technology can and will give you this level of added value. Some of them just don’t have a product portfolio extensive enough to provide nearly all things Ex from a single source.

R Stahl, for one, does, and is committed to deliver full-scale solutions whenever you ask for it. R Stahl control boxes, for example, usually come pre-equipped with switches and remote I/O components, fully tailored to the target application.

We can resort to our full line of control components – be it switches or pushbuttons, volt meters or ammeters, indicating lamps or LEDs, flanges or cable entries.

Alarm units

RStahl also manufactures many other parts typically needed in and around Ex areas, such as audible alarm units and explosion protected energy supply fittings.
Its programme of intrinsically safe parts and devices includes a host of very different product categories, ranging from basic equipment, like Ex light fittings, to complex automation technology, such as our high performance operator interfaces and IPC systems.

The RStahl portfolio includes fluorescent light fittings, pendant light fittings for filament lamps, bulkhead lamps, halogen spotlights, hand lamps, tank inspection lamps, sign lights, battery backed emergency lights, and more –for Zones1 and 2, classified for explosion protection group IIC and temperature class T4.

Remote I/O technology in hazardous locations is a similar matter: RStahl has pioneered this field in the mid-1980s, and supplies an intrinsically safe, fieldbus-enabled remote I/O system today, which features hot swappable modules with great ease of use.

As a final example, RStahl HMI Systems’ compact, Ex-proof operator interfaces are advanced units specifically designed for plants that are subject to validation, eg tank farms, where all IT-based automation systems have to adhere to specific regulations concerning access control, version control and record keeping.

Manipulation-proof documentation

In a proper set-up, Exicom operator interfaces can be totally relied on for complete, traceable and manipulation-proof documentation of all operating processes throughout all areas of a plant.

With a range of products and services as vast as this, R Stahl can provide flexible, customised Ex area automation solutions second to none in the industry today. 

Dr-Ing Thorsten Arnhold is Director Product Management and Marketing, R STAHL Schaltgeräte GmbH, Waldenburg, Germany. www.stahl.de